Page 146 - My FlipBook

I30 THE TREATMENT OF TEETH

finishes up platinum colour ; and as in every case
he found that the teeth would have looked much
better if filled with gold, he came to the conclusion
that a silver-white filling was far more hideous than
a gold filling, and that, for aesthetic reasons alone,
amalgam, even if it should maintain its colour, has
no place in front tooth cavities that are in any way
exposed to view.
The two metals that oxidise the most readily and
thoroughly in the mouth are silver and copper, and
these are the two metals that, used in combination
with mercury, exert a preservative effect on tooth
structure. The preservative effect of an amalgam
of copper and mercury alone is far more than
counterbalanced by its defects, and an amalgam of
coin silver alone, which is really a silver amalgam
containing about ten per cent, of copper, has many
defects which preclude its general use. Dr. Flagg
says : " It turns black, and discolours any kind of
tooth dreadfully. It curls up at the margins in an
undesirable manner. Its edge strength is not good,
but notwithstanding this it saves teeth in a remark-
able manner, even in the most desperate cases."
Dr. Flagg also says : " In many a cavity where
everything else, even copper amalgam, has failed,
it has done faithful duty ^persistently."
The method of making coin amalgam described